A/N: This story has segued a bit further from what I had initially planned, but it's still fun to do anyway! Thanks to all my readers and reviewers- you all rock!

The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me

After the coronation, the rest of the summer seemed to fly by, but while parliament was n summer recess, the Queen and her staff- which meant everyone associated with the palace- were working as usual, if not harder, particularly the security team members protecting the Princess and her friends.

The young people had clearly enjoyed their summer at the palace, exploring the grounds and the palace itself as well as enjoying 'tours' of some of the other tourist spots; and it was partly because of this enjoyment as well as an interest in her heritage and wanting to please her grandmother, that Princess Mia ("I'm still just Mia when Grandma's not around," she had reminded Charlotte on occasion) had agreeably attended four meetings with the Prime Minister and the Queen, one 'emergency' session of parliament (which was mainly to introduce her to them officially as well as wind up 'loose ends') as well as four public appearances (all carefully prepared and vetted by the Queen and Sebastian), all of which seemed to go well.

The appearances themselves were all associated with young people, as they were inspired by an observation Joseph had when he had accompanied the young girl to school once her 'identity' had been revealed and had provided some ideas about the nature of the soon to be Princess….

00000

"The princess is late for algebra…" began the teacher who was trying to move the press along but, instead, crowded in further as the 'princess' crouched down on the pavement in front of two middle school girls, one in a wheelchair, to give them her 'autograph' (which Joseph couldn't help but note was 'Mia' rather than Princess') and chat about her friends and her cat before, after receiving a signal given to Joseph by one of the teachers, he leaned forward and gently pressed Mia's shoulder, as a sign of encouragement that she had to go to move on to class.

He was pleased to note, as he escorted her away from the pavement and up the stairs to the entrance to the school, that while she gave the cameras still hovering around her (but held back by some of the backup Joe had brought with him) a warm smile, there was no sign of nervousness or apprehension- not that he would have blamed her otherwise.

"She did WHAT? Really?" Her Majesty repeated half an hour later when, upon his return to the consulate, Joseph reported to her and Charlotte what he had witnessed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am, and I believe that Miss Thermopolis did it of her own volition- she wanted to do that," the last words were heavily emphasised.

"Really?" Her Majesty was still a little disbelieving but Charlotte already believed.

"Absolutely," he said with no doubt in his voice and the surprised, almost disbelieving expression on the Queen's face relaxed into one of relief.

"Well… that's good."

"Some of the men blocked the press from getting any closer- not that this moment won't be in the papers or on the news tomorrow…"

"Of course not, although it may give some positive coverage," the Queen murmured to herself. "But what else happened?"

"She just ignored them, and when she caught sight of the little girls….you would have been proud of her… I certainly was- I was proud and very impressed…" and it was the last words that made an impact on the two women listening- if Joseph, a man who was very difficult to impress, admitted that he was, then he was definitely telling the truth and that they had to listen to him….

"I… I wish I had been there to see it," the Queen said softly, her expression turning sad for a moment. "It was something that both Pierre and Phillipe would have done."

"As would have you, if you had the opportunity," he said gently, moving forward a little and Charlotte again had the sense that she was the invisible person in the room. "But there will be plenty of other opportunities to see her in action, I believe that."

00000

Based on that observation, the few public appearances were focused on young people- the opening of a new playground, a children's birthday party, visiting a local day centre or two- and while the press coverage was limited, what there was was positive and even most members of parliament left complimentary messages on her 'effort'.

"A bit condescending," Mia wrinkled nose when her grandmother had recalled the comments, and she was surprised when her grandmother began to laugh.

"I completely agree with you, my dear, those men can be very condescending, as I have discovered many, many times over the years, but as I've told you before, you need to be careful with them- listen and respect their ideas (even if you don't agree with them) but don't let them intimidate you."

"They don't intimidate you, do they?"

Clarisse considered her question as Charlotte watched them quietly- it was true that the men of parliament didn't intimidate the Queen so much anymore (well, not during her personal observations) but they still tried to do it at times and tried to do it a lot when the King had passed away, but the Queen had managed to maintain her dignity and her calm façade, even when there were times when Charlotte knew that they had driven her to distraction.

"I will admit that there were times in the past when they did try to intimidate me- I was a woman, Queen Consort but not worth their time or their opinions, most of them thought- but I finally managed to discover techniques and tricks to deal with them."

"Will you show me some of them one day?"

"One day, I might," Clarisse gave her a wry smile. "But you must also learn to develop your own tricks to deal with them."

"What about ignoring them?" Mia suggested with a cheeky smile and Clarisse was relaxed enough to know that she was joking, so she laughed along with her.

All too soon, the summer was almost over and Mia, Helen and the Moscovitzes were ready to return to San Francisco- Clarisse had made the decision, urged by Sebastian and Joseph in their own ways, to allow Mia to continue her education in San Francisco.

"I had already decided upon that before the end of July," Clarisse admitted to Joseph once she had let Mia know of her decision (and received another ecstatic, almost over the top hug from her, although Clarisse had to admit that she was beginning to get used to them, in fact she enjoyed them) and he had gazed at her calmly.

"I knew that."

"How did you know that?" she demanded.

"Because… I know you and I know how you think."

"You just think you know, but you don't," she crinkled her nose up at him, in a very similar way to Mia but Joseph only chuckled as he moved closer to her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh believe me, I do know…."

On the morning of their departure, the same group who had waited for their arrival was waiting in the foyer for them again, and once Helen, Michael and Lily had said their farewells and had gone outside, Mia stood before them with a slightly regretful smile.

"It's a pity that the summer had to come to an end- I hate having to go back to school."

"It won't be too long and it'll be Christmas and you'll be back," Joseph said encouragingly- Mia and Helen had already agreed to return for Christmas, an agreement that Charlotte was pleased about, mainly for the sake of Her Majesty- Prince Pierre wouldn't be able to attend and it would be the first without Phillipe…

"Still… there's three months until then," she mock pouted and Joe laughed as he stepped forward and kissed her hand.

"They'll fly before you know it… have a safe trip back to the States and enjoy your term."

"Thank you, Joey," she teased him before turning to Charlotte. "Thanks for all your help and support, Charlotte- I hope I haven't been too much trouble for you this summer."

"Not at all, Your Highness, I've been glad to give you any help I could offer… safe travels."

Both Joe and Charlotte stepped backwards, leaving the Queen and her granddaughter facing each other.

"Three months isn't such a long time," Clarisse said, trying to jolly her granddaughter along but trying to hide the fact that she feeling a little emotional, as if she was saying goodbye to another member of her family, but she told herself that she was being ridiculous.

"I know, I know, I just don't like summer ending," Mia sighed before looking at her grandmother again. "Thank you for everything this summer, and I'm looking forward to coming back at Christmas."

"As am I… there will be no official duties that time, except for the New Year's Eve Ball."

"Genovians certainly enjoy balls, don't they?" Mia laughed and there was a moment of awkwardness before Clarisse stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her granddaughter- it was still awkward, but she was getting there.

"Have a very safe trip back and enjoy your school term," she murmured quietly into her ear and Mia nodded.

"I will… and you enjoy…." She paused as she pulled away, trying to think of something to say. "You enjoy… your meetings and sessions of parliament."

"Thank you, dear," Clarisse said wryly as she stepped back. "I'll try to."

"Well… bye," Mia waved a little awkwardly around the foyer before turning and walking out the door, pausing in the doorway to turn and smile back at them for a moment before completely exiting the palace.

0

There was a long pause after Mia's exit, as Clarisse continued standing where she was and watching the door that Mia just exited, Charlotte and Joe still standing in their positions behind her, before Joseph took the initiative and took a quiet step forward.

"Your Majesty? ...Clarisse?" he said in a softer voice and finally the Queen turned to look at him, her expression calm and collected but there was clear emotion in her blue eyes, both Charlotte and Joseph could see it. "Are you alright?"

"What… why wouldn't I be?" she asked briskly, the veil suddenly coming back down over her eyes again and she looked as calm as ever. "She will be back- it's not as if she's gone forever… and now," she glanced at her watch. "Charlotte, you and I have a meeting with Sebastian Motaz in half an hour, there a few things I want to go over before he arrives," before she turned and began walking with determination towards her study, her high heels clicking on the floor. "Oh, and Joseph?"

"Yes ma'am?" he asked as she turned to look at him.

"Can you and your team debrief on the summer with the Princess and have a report for me by the end of the day? See if there is anything that needs to be improved or developed further for next time?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," he said quietly before he and Charlotte exchanged a look and then went their separate ways- the Queen hated to reveal any vulnerability in her character (another aftermath of being married to a man like Rupert) but they both knew that, eventually, she would reveal how she was truly feeling.

0

They were wrong about her revealing her feelings- the next few days, she buried herself in work and neither Charlotte nor Joseph could make her talk about anything besides work or anything associated with parliament (and she didn't even want to walk in the gardens, as she usually did when she needed a break)- although she was briefly happy when she had a phone call from Mia once they had arrived back in San Francisco- and it was at the end of the week that Joseph made a decision and decided to let Charlotte in on his plan.

"I'm going to insist on Her Majesty have the afternoon off- is it possible for her to clear her schedule?"

Charlotte glanced at the Queen's personal schedule and saw that she only had paperwork and a short meeting with Joseph himself that day- Fridays were usually quiet, unless preparing for a dinner or formal occasion and there was nothing on the schedule for that until mid-September.

"That should be fine… but are you going to be able to convince her to have some time off?" She too was concerned about the Queen- she obviously missed the Princess greatly and had underestimated her feelings for the girl- but she wasn't quite sure the Queen would agree to this.

"Charlotte," he sat on the edge of her desk and looked at her seriously. "This is not like what happened with Phillipe- although I am concerned about the first anniversary in April, but we'll deal with that later- but she needs time to process her feelings. You and I both know that she misses Princess Mia more than she will admit but she hasn't been able- we both know that she buries her feelings… it's not healthy but it's what she does… I just want her to have a little time to process those feelings, you do understand that, don't you?"

Charlotte, despite sensing his ever deepening feelings for the Queen, was a little taken aback at the passion and vehemence of his argument but she quickly recovered to nod quickly at him- she too felt that she needed at least the afternoon off.

"Yes, Joe, I agree with you, I understand and I will clear her schedule… but you're going to be the one to tell her."

"Oh yes, I will do that," he gave her a quick wink before getting off her desk and heading towards the closed study doors.

"Good luck," she called after him and he only grinned at her before knocking briefly on the door and entering the room, closing the door behind him.

As expected, Her Majesty was sitting at her desk, paperwork covering her desk, her glasses high up on her nose and her head bent over her desk, pen in hand moving frantically across the paper.

"Your Majesty," he said simply and she looked up after a moment.

"Joseph? I wasn't expecting you until later."

"I know you weren't, but I need to speak with you."

"It will have to wait until later- I have got so much work to do this afternoon," she waved at the paper strewn desk. "I'll be fortunate if I leave here before eight o'clock tonight."

"You'll be gone well before then… in fact, you're leaving now," he said calmly and the Queen, who had been bending her head back down to her paperwork, looked up in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"You're leaving your paperwork now," Joseph said again calmly as he walked around the desk and held out a hand to her.

"Joseph, you know I can't! I have so much to do here…" she protested.

"I'm not going to tell you again- you're leaving your desk now," he said in a much more authoritative tone and this time Clarisse frowned at him.

"You can't tell me what to do… I've got things to do, phone calls to make…"

"All of which you can do next Monday, for now, you're playing hooky from school," and he grabbed her hand and pulled up, albeit not as gently as he would have if she had accepted his word and gone willingly with him, Clarisse too startled to do anything.

"Hooky?"

"You never skipped school? Pretended you were sick?"

"No, I didn't do that at all," she said primly, removing her hand from his and taking off her glasses to set down on her desk. "I imagine you did it quite a few times."
"Not that many," he shrugged before he looked at her again. "So, are you agreeable to my suggestion of having the afternoon off?"

Clarisse considered for a moment and then shrugged, looking again like her granddaughter and her sons before her.

"Fine. Fine with me," and it was those words that convinced Joseph that she did need the break. "So," she looked at him expectantly, suddenly feeling less chained to the desk as she had been only moments ago. "Where are you taking me?"

"I thought a walk in your garden would be appropriate- you should probably enjoy the last of the fine weather before autumn comes."

"That sounds like a good idea," she agreed before she stopped short. "What about Charlotte? Surely you let her know what you were planning on doing?"

"I've already told her what's going on and suggested that your schedule be cleared for the afternoon…."

"That was rather heavy handed," Clarisse protested, but weakly.

"True… but she agreed to do what I asked….."

Charlotte tried to look busy when the two of them emerged from the Queen's study, but Her Majesty wasn't obviously fooled as she stood in front of her desk and waited for Charlotte to look up at her.

"Charlotte."

"Your Majesty?"

"Remember, Clarisse when we're alone…?"

"But…" her eyes moved toward Joseph and the Queen… Clarisse… who was suddenly looking more relaxed than she had been for the past couple of days, waved a hand in the air.

"It's fine, he doesn't mind… anyway, I just wanted to thank you for clearing my schedule… even though I hadn't given someone permission for that," she gave Joe a slightly stern look before turning back to Charlotte. "But thank you… maybe you could have the afternoon off as well….?"

"That would be nice, Your Majesty, but I still have a great deal to do here… enjoy your walk in the garden."

"Thank you."

As she watched them walk away, Charlotte couldn't help but wonder what they were going to talk about while they were in the garden- NOT that she was going to eavesdrop in any way but she couldn't help but wonder….but they did deserve some privacy….